greek iv stories » Retreat

Greeks Go to Camp

Ryan Mercer — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:53:04 +0000

This year we tried something new with Greek InterVarsity at Purdue. In early October, we took 27 Greeks to a nearby camp for our first ever Greek Getaway. The goal for the weekend was to connect with God and connect with friends and that is exactly what happened.

The weekend started off with a retreat of silence. We gave students a Bible, a psalm to read and 2 hours to be alone with God. Because of the fast-paced nature of Greek life, this was a first-time opportunity for most them. After that we split everyone into teams for competitions. Through competitions like relay races, popping balloons and racing to pull tissues out of a kleenex box, the students built connections with people from other houses on campus. Each team had time to study the Bible together and discuss the challenges of living out faith in a fraternity/sorority. They were so glad to talk with other Greeks struggling with the same issues. By the end of the weekend, 17 committed to meeting one-on-one with God daily and a third of them recommitted to their faith in Jesus. Check out the highlight video here.

One of Allie’s (name changed) sorority sisters dragged her along to Greek Getaway this year and even paid the registration fee for her. Though hesitant to sign up, Allie had a great experience and is excited to renew her Christian faith. She is now regularly attending Greek IV events and wants to lead the Bible study in her sorority. Greek Getaway was a defining moment in her faith journey!

Delta Tau Delta Renewed

Tyler Riffe — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:35 +0000

Two years ago there was no one living out their faith actively in Delta Tau Delta (Delts) at Purdue University. When Payton Miller first came to a Greek IV House Ministry Leader (HML) retreat as a junior, he mentioned how there was no one living out their faith in their house… let alone a Bible Study going on and initially thought the idea of one sounded crazy. However, God seemed to have had a different idea. A fellow HML approached Payton because she thought it would be great for there to be a joint Bible study between them one week, because their houses were “Football Buddies”. Payton went along with the idea, and was stunned at the response of his fraternity brothers. There were a handful of guys who thought it was great idea, and after that first one, Payton just kept leading Bible studies… and pouring himself into sharing his faith and life with his Delt Brothers. Today, 4 of Payton’s good friends in the fraternity have made decisions to follow Jesus Christ, are active in the Greek IV and Christian community, their lives are transforming, and they are excited to continue the work in Delts that God has started through Payton. Along with those 4 brothers of his, the full impact that he has had on the house as a whole has reproductions for God’s Kingdom that we will never fully be able to grasp completely.

Payton has spent his senior year as President of our Greek IV student leadership team, and will be joining staff to plant a Greek IV chapter on a campus that currently does not have one, taking his experience of how God used him at Purdue and in his house along with him.

However, Payton will be graduating this year. So what is next for Delts? Along with those 4 that we have literally seen God transform, Payton has encouraged and motivated a freshmen, Carl, to slowly take the mantle of leadership for next year, thus securing active ministry in Delts for generations to come. Carl… is pumped about what God has done in Delts thus far, and is eager to join the process of calling his fraternity brothers to Christ!

To read more about Carl, CLICK HERE!

To read Mike’s story, one of Payton’s 4 guys… CLICK HERE!

Starting with a Senior

Lauren Mann — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:19:38 +0000

Katie is a senior in Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of Illinois. Her first Greek IV experience was our first Wednesday large group of the semester. Even though she is a senior, this was the first time she had come to Greek IV. Over the years we have had a few Thetas come out to Greek IV, but we have never had a leader in that sorority. After that initial experience, Katie came back to the next Wednesday night large group the following week and brought two friends! She is an inviter and others follow her. Katie connected with a few of our senior women in other sororities at those large group gatherings and she took a step further. Without hesitation Katie registered for Greek Getaway – our 24 hour off campus retreat. Not only did Katie register, but she encouraged her two friends to register as well. They had a great time and now Katie and another sorority sister, Kristen, are planning to start a ministry in Thetas!

As long as we have been at U of I (10 years), there has not been a ministry at Kappa Alpha Theta! Praise God with how He has connected these women with Greek IV. Katie wrote an explanation of why she wants to start a ministry in her sorority…

“My desire to be a leader derives from the profound change that’s happened in my life because of my faith. I want to share my experience and my knowledge with other people who may also be going through difficult times and don’t know where to turn. Especially given that my house has never had a successful, ongoing Bible Study, I want to create a place of discovery that will continue on after I graduate. I feel that leading girls in my house in discussing the most important life quest would be the most significant way I can give back. I want to be a guiding source of light and encouragement in such a formative time in these young women’s lives.”

We are excited to see how God uses Katie’s step of faith to lead a ministry in her sorority. Please pray for Katie and Kristen as they start a house ministry for the first time in Kappa Alpha Theta. We desire to see a house ministry in every fraternity and sorority house on campus led by a student in that house. It is exciting to think a whole new network of sorority women will be exposed to the truth of the gospel.

Messy Courage

Andy Bilhorn — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:10:55 +0000

“Sometimes Jesus is messy – and that’s OK.”

I didn’t know what else to say. So these words just came out of my mouth.

I was praying with a student at a retreat after I spoke words of challenge to steep ourselves in the reality of God’s love. Her tears came freely, and I didn’t have any other words to say to them as I was praying.

Sandra* didn’t feel like anyone really knew her. She struggled with an eating disorder. She came from a broken home. She looked to escape from the problems in looking for the next party. She came to her senses and humbled herself and recognized she needed help. She was willing to accept Jesus on his terms because she knew He loved her.

I’d like to tell you that this was the exception rather than the norm in ministry at an elite university like Northwestern – but I’d be lying. Very few students get to a point of honesty where the words they speak conform to the messy reality of their inner being. I told her she was courageous and humble like Jesus.

As we enter the Christmas season, I’m beginning to see the scenes with picturesque snowscaped rolling hills with smoking chimneys. I will soon see the city of Chicago lit up beautifully and the shopping lines of Michigan Avenue. But they have little to do with the first Christmas, where the destiny of the world rested in the choices of two rural teenagers in a messy situation.

Mary’s unplanned parenthood brought disgrace to her family. She was nearly divorced by Joseph, and was on the run for the first few years of Jesus’ life. Yet Mary was the first to accept Jesus on his own terms, despite such high cost. Inconvenient hardly begins to describe her circumstances. Impossible is better.

Accepting Jesus on his terms is difficult and messy. But through the most humble of ways, God connected with his helpless children through becoming helpless himself. As I prayed with the student, it became clear that she was connecting with God and was experiencing God’s love for her. The tears were followed by hugs of acceptance and joy from true friends.

The good news of Jesus became real, and she became part of the celebration – just like the angels on that first Christmas day. May you experience that blessing as well this season.

*not her real name